New Year Traditions

At the start of this new year we take a look  back at a few of the many New Year traditions from around the world.  

In Ireland, great importance was placed on who was first through the door at the start of the New Year. The details varied from region to region, and even within regions at different times. For example, in some traditions, if a dark, handsome man was first through the door it would signify good luck for the New Year. However, a woman would mean bad luck, even more so if it was a young, red-haired woman.  One of the more unusual Irish traditions involved banging the walls of the house with bread as a way of chasing away bad luck and evil spirits. Some traditions also saw it as a way of encouraging good luck and ensuring there would be plenty of bread available over the coming year.

England celebrates the New Year from the evening of December 31st into January 1st. Traditionally, on the stroke of midnight, people opened the back door (to let the old year out) and ask the first dark haired man to be seen to come through the front door carrying salt, coal and bread. This means that the following year everyone in the house would have enough to eat (bread), enough money (salt) and be warm enough (coal).

In Scotland, New Year is known as Hogmanay and in the past was more popular than Christmas. First footing is similar to the Irish tradition. The ‘first foot’ in the house after midnight is still very common in Scotland. To ensure good luck, a first footer should be a dark-haired man. Fair-haired first footers were not particularly welcome after the Viking invasions of ancient times. Traditional gifts include a lump of coal to lovingly place on the host’s fire, along with shortbread, a black bun and whisky to toast to a Happy New Year.

Germans call New Year’s Eve “Silvester,” in honour of Pope Sylvester I, who died on December 31, 335. According to the legend, non-believers who were around him choked on fish bones. Some superstitious people therefore state that one should avoid fish that night, or at least eat it very carefully.  Another superstition annuls these fears, however. Carps are considered a lucky charm. This fish is therefore for many Germans a typical Silvester dish. It is believed that keeping a carp scale in your wallet guarantees that it will be filled with cash all year.

The origins of the Chinese New Year are steeped in legend. One legend is that thousands of years ago a monster named Nian (“Year”) would attack villagers at the beginning of each new year. The monster was afraid of loud noises, bright lights, and the colour red, so those things were used to chase the beast away. Celebrations to usher out the old year and bring forth the luck and prosperity of the new one, therefore, often include firecrackers, fireworks, and red clothes and decorations. Young people are given money in colourful red envelopes. In addition, Chinese New Year is a time to feast and to visit family members. Many traditions of the season honour relatives who have died.

The lyrics of “Auld Lang Syne” are in the Scots language. The title, translated literally into standard English, is Old Long Since. The words can be interpreted as since long ago or for old times’ sake. The lyrics are about old friends having a drink and recalling adventures they had long ago. There is no specific reference to the new year.  The Scottish poet, Robert Burns first wrote down “Auld Lang Syne” in 1788, but the poem did not appear in print until shortly after his death in 1796. It was first published in volume five of James Johnson’s Scots Musical Museum. Burns, a major contributor to the compilation, claimed that the words of “Auld Lang Syne” were taken “from an old man’s singing.” However, the song has been associated with Burns ever since. As published by Johnson, the lyrics were set to a different tune from the one that later became familiar.

The Canadian-born bandleader Guy Lombardo helped make “Auld Lang Syne” a New Year’s Eve tradition in North America and around the world . His band, the Royal Canadians, played the song at the turn of the new year in a series of popular radio (and later television) broadcasts that began on December 31, 1929, and continued for more than 30 years. Many variations of wording can be found in both versions of “Auld Lang Syne” as they have been set down over the years. In fact, surviving manuscript copies in Burns’s own hand are not identically worded.

This story appeared previously in Gympie Today on 9/1/2022 and was written by Wendy Flikweert.

Sources:  Trove; GFHS Record Collection;